What are things someone can do when they are near someone having seizure?

Knowing what to do if someone near you has a seizure is important so you can help care for them and get them the help they need. The CDC says you should take the following steps if you see someone having a seizure:

During the seizure:

Check for a medical bracelet or other emergency information

Ease the person to the floor

Gently turn the person onto one side to help them breathe

Keep yourself and other people around you calm

Loosen or remove anything from around the person’s neck, including ties, necklaces, or a tightly buttoned shirt, to help them breathe

Put a soft, flat object – such as a folded coat or towel – under the person’s head

Remove any sharp or hard things from around the person to prevent injury

Take the person’s glasses off

After the seizure:

Comfort the person and speak calmly to them

Help the person to a safe place

If you are not at the person’s home, call for transportation to get them home safely

Make sure the person is fully awake

Stay with the person until the seizure ends

Talk to the person to explain in simple terms what happened

When to call 911:

If a seizure lasts longer than five minutes

Several seizures happen in a row

If you are in doubt or the person’s condition

If the person has an established cause of seizures (like epilepsy) and the seizure is very typical, there is no need to call 911.

Talk to your doctor to learn more about what to do if someone around you has a seizure.

Can it be difficult to find a seizure’s trigger?

Dr. Arshi Naz discusses difficulties in finding what triggers a seizure. Click play to watch the video or read the transcript.

Can it be difficult to find a seizure’s trigger?

Sometimes it's difficult to identify triggers or define them. We know commonly that sleep deprivation can lead to seizure, but seizure may not be happening each time they are sleep deprived. Now, the threshold at which these trigger could cause seizure can be variable, so that's why it's difficult to identify them. But once they are identified, if patient have seen a pattern that when they are sleep deprived each time they have been having seizure, then avoiding those situation can be very helpful for them to avoid seizure.

How can a diary help you with your treatment of epilepsy?

Dr. Arshi Naz discusses how a diary can help you with your treatment of epilepsy. Click play to watch the video or read the transcript.

How can a diary help you with your treatment of epilepsy?

Maintaining a seizure diary can be very effective for their seizure management. Patient can track the frequency and duration of their seizure, and that can be helpful for physician to plan the treatment.

Keeping a diary can help you and your doctor find the best treatment and prevention options for managing your seizures and epilepsy, according to the Epilepsy Foundation (EF).

Your diary can also help you keep track of when to take medications, prescriptions refills, medical appointments, medical history, and much more.

Talk to your doctor for more information about how a diary can help with your treatment of epilepsy.

What type of information can you record or track in an epilepsy diary?

Dr. Arshi Naz discusses information that can you record in an epilepsy diary. Click play to watch the video or read the transcript.

What type of information can you record or track in an epilepsy diary?

Maintaining an epilepsy diary is a very effective way for seizure management. The information which can be documented there is seizure type, the frequency, and duration. Some patients, they have multiple seizure types, so identifying which one is common can be helpful to curve the treatment accordingly. It can be helpful to document the seizure medication, its dosing, if there were any changes made in existing medication dosing, or if there are any new medication added there, did it help in decreasing the frequency and duration of the seizure. Those things can be tracked.

Females of childbearing age can track their menstrual cycle and identify if their seizures are getting more frequent around that time so that that can be helpful for physician to plan treatment accordingly for them. Documenting any lifestyle modification around the seizure time, like missing dose of seizure medication, or stress, or sleep deprivation can be helpful for understanding their triggers. So those are the things which they can document to help the physician planning their epilepsy treatment.

Your epilepsy diary should include more information than just when you’ve had seizures.

Epilepsy Foundation (EF) shares some important details you should make sure to include in your seizure diary.

While some of the information might seem obvious, other information might not seem as important, but it can actually have a major effect on your likelihood of seizures.

Your diary information should include:

Frequency of seizures

Length of your seizure

Lifestyle changes

Medication changes over time

Medication side effects

Menstrual cycle, for women

Mood changes

Sleep pattern, including lack of sleep

Stress you feel

Type of seizure

When you have a seizure

When you miss a dose of any medication

Your current medication types and doses

Your medical history

Before working on your diary, talk with your physician to determine if there’s other important information he or she would like you to include.

For more information about what to record or track in an epilepsy diary, talk with your doctor.

Are there pre-created epilepsy diaries available for you to use?

Dr. Arshi Naz discusses how to find a pre-created epilepsy diary. Click play to watch the video or read the transcript.

Are there pre-created epilepsy diaries available for you to use?

There are several online resources available. There are apps, which can be downloaded on a smart phone for example. Epilepsy Foundation offers an app, which can be downloaded, known as My Seizure Diary. That app offers patient to document the seizure description, frequency, duration, the days they are seizure free, if it's too frequent for them. They can also enter their seizure medication dosing. Not just seizure medication, they can enter other medication they're on so that the physician can understand if there is interaction going on between those medication and the seizure medication.

They can also set a reminder for themselves to remember taking their medication. This information can be shared with a caregiver, so some kind of a reminder can be set up for them to help seizure patients. They can also set up a reminder for themselves to refill their medication, so that's always helpful. This information can be shared with their healthcare provider online, and this app can be used offline more too and it can be synchronized later when the internet is available. So a patient can always use those resources, and that's always helpful for physician to plan their treatment for them.

Additional Resources

This website provides general medical information that should be used for informative and educational purposes only. Information found here should not be used as a substitute for the personal, professional medical advice of your physician. Do not begin any course of treatment without consulting a physician.